Bucs break loose vs. Chicago

Associated Press

chicago

Just for the record, Andrew McCutchen and Garrett Jones really weren’t trying to one-up each other.

It just seemed that way.

McCutchen and Jones both homered and set career highs with five hits each, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 10-6 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Friday.

The Pirates broke loose at the plate after four straight losses and back-to-back shutouts at Cincinnati. They scored three runs in the first inning, then rallied from a 6-4 deficit to hand Chicago its eighth loss in 10 games. That skid includes a three-game sweep at Pittsburgh last week.

Jones, who’s from suburban Tinley Park, Ill., also doubled and drove in a career-high five runs. He broke an eighth-inning tie with a three-run homer off Carlos Zambrano, connecting right after his long drive was barely foul.

McCutchen hit a solo homer in the ninth, scored five times and stole two bases.

“I guess we were just kind of competing against each other,” McCutchen said, laughing. “I don’t know. I’d get a hit, he’d get a hit. He’d hit a homer, I’d hit a homer. I don’t know, I guess we should do that every time.”

Considering the last time two Pirates collected five hits in a game was when Willie Stargell and Bob Robertson did it at Atlanta on Aug. 1, 1970, they’ll have a hard time.

“It was fun to watch,” Jones said. “The home run he hit went out in about a second. Those lasers he was hitting, he had a great bunt today, so he did it all. It was fun to hit behind him, that’s for sure.”

Zambrano (1-3) came on in the eighth and immediately ran into trouble.

He hit Andy LaRoche leading off before McCutchen singled. Jones then drove a 3-2 sinker over the right-center field wall for his fifth homer, making it 9-6. And when a double by Ryan Doumit and single by Lastings Milledge followed, fans showered Zambrano.